Mayweather vs McGregor – KO’d by Microphone Issues

Mayweather vs McGregor – KO’d by Microphone Issues

Boxing and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fans had been asking for this fight, and finally, it was ON! At the first promotional/press meeting, Mayweather (favorite to win) and McGregor (underdog) were both confident and over the top. The conference is the first major promotional event for the upcoming fight. Fighters typically throw cuts and insults at their opponents to get under the competition’s skin; this press event was no exception. As Mayweather was finishing up his 10-minute verbal assault on McGregor, it became time to start the “showdown.”

Mayweather said” Yeah you just sit there and say nothing.” Visibly angry and ready to pounce McGregor says… well, we don’t know what he said because his microphone was not working. OK, so the AV team quickly swapped out the microphone just in time for McGregor to defend himself again, and he said… darn, we still don’t know what he said. The replacement microphone had also failed. It’s at this point that Connor McGregor loses confidence in the microphone and just starts yelling his replies. We still don’t know what he said. Watch the video McGregor KO’d by Microphone Failure and see how McGregor’s response was muted, both literally and figuratively.

Toward the “climax” of the event, the two fighters were toe to toe trading barbs and threats as if boxing with words. Again, the viewers can see the athletes but can only guess what they are saying as there is no microphone working. In the background over the announcer’s voice, you can hear someone thumping the top of a microphone as if checking to see if it was live. Then after a couple of minutes, a tech delivers a mic to the stage. You can hear someone say, “test, test, test,” on the stage mic, and later he tries it again. Was it on? We’ll never know as the user looks to the techs and mouths the question,” Is this on?” He loses confidence in the audio team and doesn’t attempt to use it again. Again, it was a missed opportunity for the fighters to generate excitement by voicing their rants to the world. But without a microphone, no one hears the hype. Watch the video: Mayweather Vs McGregor Press Conference: KO’d by audio issues. It’s like waiting for a Space X launch, and the countdown clock stops at 9 seconds, what a letdown.

This press conference was designed to promote the upcoming world champion contest. It was designed to get all the boxing and UFC fans excited about the fight. It was meant to get all the arena seats sold and break pay-per-view records. In other words, they had to close the deal during this promotional event - the fighters had to convince the fighting world their fight would be THE fight of the generation. Yet how could the athletes do that if they had to struggle with microphone issues.

What is the takeaway here? How do you think your next conference or meeting would be affected by unnecessary audio issues? Do you think interrupting a speaker’s rhythm can affect the outcome of their presentation? Most importantly, how would these types of distractions change the intended message? You want the “A Team” in your corner so you can seize the moment of opportunity without failure. You want your message to be clear to attendees. You want a company like Lucas Productions Audio Visual at your next important event. You only get one shot to make a first impression, make that opportunity count!